Afghan People

Two decades of civil war and serious human rights abuses have forced millions of Afghan men, women and children to flee their homes and seek refuge in other parts of Afghanistan or outside the country. Since the armed conflict began after the Soviet invasion in 1979, civilians - women and children in particular - have suffered enormously from the devastating consequences of continuous fighting. 

Between the years 1979 and 1992, more than a fifth of Afghanistan's population - over six million people - were driven from the country in search of safety, mainly to the neighboring countries of Iran and Pakistan. The current number of Afghan refugees is estimated to be more than two million, residing mainly in these two countries. 

Iran has one of the largest Afghan refugee populations in the world. According to the Iranian interior ministry’s Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA), the coordinating body for refugee affairs, there were 2,349,068 Afghans living in Iran in April 2001, not including the thousands of Afghan migrant workers living illegally in the country. 

Unlike Pakistan, the vast majority of Afghan refugees does not live in refugee camps but are largely integrated into Iranian society. Most live in the larger urban areas of the country like the capital Tehran, although seven refugee camps are still in existence. 

TORBAT-E-JAM REFUGEE CAMP is one of the main Afghan refugee camps in Iran: